Va. company creates app to help in disasters

WASHINGTON – When a disaster happens, many good Samaritans are quick to make donations. But oftentimes, those donations go to waste. A Virginia company is designing an app to change that.

The goal of the Good360 app, created by Alexandria, Va., company Good360, is to get the items specifically needed to the right place and the right people.

The company was just awarded an $850,000 grant by Verizon for its innovative idea.

“By handing a smart phone to a non-profit, they’ll be able to assess what the conditions are,” says Good360 CEO Cindy Hallberlin.

“They’ll upload their needs. It will go to our disaster portal and we will push out those needs to the thousands of companies we work with every day to have them donate the right goods when they’re needed to the right folks on the ground,” Hallberlin says.

By working with large companies like UPS, 3M and Home Depot, the app can ensure the right supplies are donated and less excess is wasted.

Sixty percent of goods donated during disasters ends up in landfills, according to Good360.

The company hopes to partner with Verizon to hand out phones in disaster areas preloaded with the Good360 app.